The Mohave Desert is one of the USAs most popular tourist areas. It contains Death Valley and the Grand Canyon. Due to the surrounding mountains the desert is in rainshadow and receives less than 6 inches of rain.

The Mojave is a desert of temperature extremes and four distinct seasons. Winter months bring temperatures dipping to below -7 °C on valley floors, and below -18 °C at higher elevations. Storms moving from the Pacific Northwest can bring rain and snow across the region — more often, the rain shadow created by the Sierra Nevada as well as mountain ranges … Continue Reading

The Olympic Peninsula protrudes into the Pacific Ocean at the far north western tip of Washington State, it became a World Heritage Site in 1981.

The coastal portion of the park is a rugged, sandy beach along with a strip of adjacent forest. It is 73 miles long but just a few miles wide, with native communities at the mouths two of rivers. The most popular piece of the coastal strip is the 9-mile Ozette Loop. The Park Service runs a registration and reservation program to control usage levels of this area. From the trailhead at Lake Ozette, a 3-mile … Continue Reading

Monument Valley is not actually a valley, instead its a series of rock formations carved out of the Colorado Plateau. Among its best known features are East Mitten, West Mitten the North Window and the three sisters.

The valley lies in the Navajo Nation Reservation in South East Utah and is sacred for them.

Monument Valley is officially a large area which includes much of the area surrounding Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, a Navajo Nation equivalent to a national park. There are parts of Monument Valley which are only accessible by guided tour, such as Mystery Valley … Continue Reading

To the North East of New York City on the side of the Catskill Mountains, lie the finger lakes. The area is a fertile, beautiful region of farmland and vineyards intersected by lakes that drain down to North Ontario.

The Finger Lakes region is a central part of the Iroquois homeland. The Iroquois tribes include the Seneca and Cayuga tribes, for which the two largest Finger Lakes are named. The Tuscarora tribe lived in the Finger Lakes region as well. The Onondaga and Oneida tribes lived at the eastern edge of the region, closer to their namesake lakes, Lake Oneida … Continue Reading

The Blue Ridge Mountains form the Eastern end of the Appalchians, they are made of ancient granite dating back from 1.2 billion years ago. The landscape is stunning, made up of endless vistas of forested mountains.

Trees put the “blue” in Blue Ridge, from the hydrocarbons released into the atmosphere, thereby contributing to the characteristic haze on the mountains and their distinctive color.

Although the term “Blue Ridge” is sometimes applied exclusively to the eastern edge or front range of the Appalachian Mountains, the geological definition of the Blue Ridge province extends westward to the Ridge and Valley area, encompassing the … Continue Reading

Diamond head is Oahu’s best known volcano. Located near to Waikiki its an extinct volcano that has been for 150,000 or more years. Its English name was given by British sailors in the 19th century, who mistook calcite crystals embedded in the rock for diamonds.

Diamond Head is part of the complex of cones, vents, and their associated eruption flows that are collectively known to geologists as the Honolulu Volcanic Series, eruptions from the Koʻolau Volcano that took place long after the volcano formed and had gone dormant. The Honolulu Volcanic Series is a series of volcanic eruption … Continue Reading

The Alaska Peninsula National refugs was setup in 1980 to conserve wildlife. The refuge contains active volcanos and sustained humans for 10,000 years.

The Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Alaska whose use is regulated as an ecological-protection measure. It stretches along the southern coast of the Alaska Peninsula, between the Becharof National Wildlife Refuge on its east and the end of the peninsula at False Pass in the west. In between, however, it is broken into sections by lands of the Aniakchak National Monument and Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.

Bristlecone pines are one of the oldest organisms known to man. These pines are found in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest part of the Inyo National Forest in the White Mountains.

The oldest tree, nicknamed “Methuselah”, is more than 4,750 years old, and is not marked to ensure added protection from vandals

Jewel Cave is now the third largest in the World. It is beautifully decorated and contains calcite crystal spars. Frank and Albert Michaud, two local homesteaders, discovered the cave in 1900, when they felt cold air blowing out of a small hole in a canyon. It is unknown whether any previous inhabitants of the area were aware of the natural cave opening, which was not large enough for a person to enter.

As recently as 1959, less than two miles (3 km) of passageway had been discovered. That year, however, Herb and Jan Conn, local rock climbers, began exploring, … Continue Reading

Mount Whitney is the highest point in California located in the northern Mohave desert. The mountain is one of the most frequently climbed peaks in the county. Black bears are fairly common and backpackers must carry a bear resistant cannister with them. Most people take between two and four days to hike the Whitney Trail.

The steep eastern side of the mountain offers a variety of climbing challenges. The “Mountaineer’s Route”, a gully on the north side of the east face first climbed by John Muir, is considered a scramble.

South of the main summit there are … Continue Reading